《Dawn》 - Akatsuki

...Born in Tokyo. After studying English literature at the National English Society's night school, he enrolled in the Shinpa (Fujisawa Asajiro) Tokyo Acting School, where he learned modern dramaturgy and realism from Osanai Kaoru, the "father of new theater," who was a professor there. However, he was unable to make a living from new theater, so in 1917 he joined Nikkatsu Mukojima Studios, which was then churning out tragic new theater works, and the following year he released his first directorial work, "Akatsuki." He then made a film version of Tolstoy's "The Living Dead" (1918), which had been a huge success when it was staged by the Art Theater. Although it was still within the realm of "moving pictures," his direction and acting direction showed a fresh willingness to break away from the old Shinpa mold, and he attracted attention for his effective use of cutbacks, moving shots, and backlighting. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Akatsuki" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…東京生れ。国民英学会の夜学で英文学を学んだのち，新派(藤沢浅二郎)の東京俳優学校に入学し，そこで教授をしていた〈新劇の父〉小山内（おさない）薫から近代劇のドラマトゥルギーや演技のリアリズムを学んだが，新劇では生計が立たず，1917年，当時は新派悲劇的作品を粗製していた日活向島撮影所に入り，翌18年，監督第1作《暁》を発表した。次いで，芸術座が舞台にのせて大成功したトルストイの《生ける屍》(1918)を映画化し，まだ〈活動写真〉の域を脱しきれないものではあったが，演出や演技指導には古い新派の型を破ろうとする新鮮な意欲が見られ，カット･バック，移動撮影，逆光線撮影などが効果的に使用されて注目を浴びた。…

※「《暁》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報